Last day
by Arduriel
Summary: I was lying on bed, breathing heavily. I tried to sit up once again, but the pain in my chest was unbearable. One stupid gunshot… who would have thought it could hurt so badly? Shit! I hissed as I failed one more time. How did I wind up in this mess? ... I remember... It all have happened just yesterday.
1. 1

1: L

I was lying on bed, breathing heavily. I tried to sit up once again, but the pain in my chest was unbearable. One stupid gunshot… who would have thought it could hurt so badly?  
_Shit!_ I hissed as I failed one more time. _How did I wind up in this mess?_

I looked at the clock. 5:25 a.m.

I remembered. It all happened yesterday. I had no idea how I'd survived.

Well… I wouldn't say I survived. This wound was fatal. I knew it even though nobody told me.

Just yesterday… so many things happened…

_Flashback ^^_

I woke up and stared at the clock. 5:25 a.m.

I've never slept so well in my life. I was lying naked next to my naked best childhood friend. I know what you think but we didn't do it. Call me insane if you want but I knew she wasn't prepared yet. However that's not what's important right now.

I caressed her dark blue hair and she nuzzled into my palm. I smiled. She was still sleeping but neverthless answered my touch. I know I sound freaking sentimental when I say this but I love her. It took me a long time to realize and even longer to confess. It was worth the wait.

I kissed her forehead, slowly stood up and put on my jeans. I looked at the clock again. Five minutes had passed. I scribbled an address on a piece of paper and left it on the table. I kissed my beloved friend. She was still deeply asleep, but smiled neverthless. I walked out quietly…

It was still dark outside. The winter was coming and the freezing weather slowly crept into the country. I could very well see my warm breath in the cold air. The streets were already being filled with people hurrying to work. I frowned. Tokyo sure is one of the busiest cities in the world and I would lie if I said I enjoy the company of so many people I don't know. I walked underground. I saw a young mother with one child sleeping in her arms and another in her womb. She had no ring. She was poor and was looking at her child as if it was the only thing she had left. Unfortnate child. But she found her reason to live. That's what is important in life. We all look for our purpose.

Oh, how sentimental of me. I walked in the train and waited. I was oblivious to the tired people around me, who were constatnly complaining about something. What an ordinary morning. I walked out after a short while and left the underground. The sky was starting to lighten a bit. I smirked, because I imagined Tina waking up and cursing me for leaving without her. I know she would find me soon and sincerely hoped she would understand.

I walked into a seemingly deserted building.

Sounds like cliché. Empty buildings are never really empty. People often spread rumours about poltergeists, so that the public will leave them alone. It's a very common and effective strategy. I wonder who started using this trick, but I had to admit, it's still working. The inside of the building was a simple disused factory. Great hall in the middle with many damaged machines and lots of smaller rooms on the sides. Easy to hide, difficult to seek. I slowly walked in the middle of the hall. I noticed many pieces of old clothing: homeless people's property. I assumed they were unfortunate enough to find their shelter in here and were gotten rid of. Murderers have the tendency to think they can judge who deserves to live and who doesn't. Homeless people are often the latter category. The hall was still very dark. I approached the small room at the back of the building. I know what you think. The main information can't be on an obvious place like that. I opened the door quietly. Guess what. You were wrong. Unlike in the hall behind me, this room was cleaned and full of working computers. Nobody else was there. I quickly approached one of the computers and generated the password. Yes, I knew it would go easily on this level of safety precautions. It took me a while to find the infromation I needed, but it wasn't very difficult. I wouldn't be fair to say I'm a good hacker, but this wasn't even a challenge. I memorized the address I acquired.

Suddenly I heard something. It was quiet, but clear. Ticking… Shit! I underestimated them and carelessly detonated the real threat in their system. I quickly turned to the door, but was stopped by not a very pleasant sight. Rifles aimed at me.

"Do not move a muscle and put your hands up!"

I chuckled and slowly put up my arms. "You should make up your mind. I can't do both at the same time." I said amused. His level of inteligence had amused me more than his contradicting way of speech. Did they not know about the explosions?

Gunshot! Sharp pain ran through my side. I fell to my knees holding it. I felt blood soaking through my torn shirt. I was lucky. It was just a scratch… damn painful scratch. I raised my head to look at my enemies. More gunshots sounded through the hall. However, these weren't aimed at me. The men around me one after another fell. I stood up still holding my side. The gunshots were avoiding me perfectly. I smiled. There is only one person with that aim, who would save me. The shooting stopped, leaving me the last man standing.

"You really have the ability to get into a big mess, you know?" I've heard a voice from the upper floor, hiding in shadows. My smile widened. It was her.

"Only because you have the ability to drag me out of it. You spoiled me, you know?"  
She jumped on the ground floor and walked to me hastily. "My bad, then." Her voice was slightly shaking. "I should make it up to you!" she said angrily and slapped me. I wasn't surprised. She had the right to be mad at me. What surprised me were her shaking shoulders and the tears falling down her cheeks. "I was scared to death." she said quietly, her voice stable again. The ticking got louder.

I hugged her tightly but she didn't respond. She just stood in my arms quietly. Yep, she was still mad. „I'm sorry." I whispered and before she could retort anything, I'd taken her in my arms and ran for it. Her unasked question was answered by the chain of explosions that was detonated behind us. I ran without turning back. The entrance seemed to be so distant, even though the explosions were closing up. Rhoditina was cluthcing at my shoulders tightly, her eyes closed. _Faster, I need to go faster!_

I already felt the warmth of the fire on my back.

_Faster!_

I hit the door with my shoulder opening them widely. I flew through and quickly closed them with my back. I leaned on them for a second, holding Tina tightly and awaiting the blast.

It came soon enough. The door hit my back hardly and flew away. As I was falling to the ground, I turned my back down. The impact knocked out my breath, but I was glad, because I was able to protect the girl in my arms. At least we were now equal. Everything was a bit dark around me, even though the flames were so strong. All sounds were cushioned, as if I was hearing them through a pillow. I didn't feel anything, even though my side was injured a while before. _How strange…_ I thought and slowly closed my eyes.


	2. 2

2.

Somebody shook me harshly, gripping on both my shoulders. "Wake up!" I heard a voice as if from a great distance. "Wake up!" the voice kept getting closer. I felt a harsh slap on my cheek. I suddenly took a deep breath. My lungs were sore, as if I hadn't used them for a while. The stinging pain returned to my side and my senses became sharp again. Tina was leaning over me, her expression clearly worried. _Damn, I guess we're not equal afterall…_

I noticed the flames around us. I ignored the pain and stood up hastily, taking her arm and running towards the only place with no flames blocking it. Naturally, a wall had to rumble and block it in the flames stead. We were trapped.

"Damn!" Rhoditina cursed, while looking around for any possible escape. "There!" she shouted and grabbed my arm, running towards a low line of flames. It was possible to jump over them but not probable. I wanted to stop, to find a safer way out… There was no time. It was our last chance. We jumped. The warmth of the flames embraced my legs without harming them.

We made it. We landed outside the circle of fire I would poetically call _hell_. Tina fell to her knees, cursing and hissing in pain. We didn't made it as well as I thought. I leaned towards her, examining the wound briefly. Her right shin was burnt badly. We had no time to linger here, though. It was still too dangerous. I helped her stand up.

"Did you get here by a car?"

"How did you know?" she asked puzzled. I grinned. "They've stolen your motorbike and I can't imagine you taking the train."

She grinned as well.

"You sure know me well. I borrowed a small toyota on the way." She stumbled forward and almost fell again. I caught her and put her hand around my shoulders to provide her stability. "Carefully." I whispered into her ear. She frowned a bit, but leaned on me.

We walked a little bit further and I saw it. The black machine that was once called a car. The bumper was completely gone and the back door seemed to be hanging on a string. I looked at Tina with lifted eyebrow and she returned my glance with an innocent smile. I sighed. I knew she couldn't drive, but I've never understood her ability to completely smash a car with one ride. "You said you borrowed it? Well, I'm not sure you're gonna return it." Her innocent smile quickly disappeared and she stuck out her tongue.

I helped her on the front seat next to the driver's and then found a first aid kit somewhere on the back seat. I might not be a driver but I certainly know it wasn't supposed to be there. Well, who cares?

I sat on the driver's seat and put the kit on the deck. You guess right, the airbags were long gone.

"Show me your wound." she said with a calm and serious voice.

"Yours is more severe."

She frowned and glared at me but I kept looking at her stubbornly. I knew she wanted to retort something but she also knew I was right. I fought a smile. Yes, she was stubborn, but sensible. She growled and looked away, then put her right leg on the deck. The burn was worse than I thought.

I took out scissors from the kit and carefully cut off the cloth around the wound. She hissed in pain through gritted teeth. I was not a medic but fortunately I knew what to do with burns. The important thing was not to bandage them immediately. The skin needs air to I also knew they hurt the worst. "Shit!" she cursed through gritted teeth.

"Be careful with that wound. I can't bandage it until the skin recovers a bit. You shouldn't move around very much… I guess it's pointless to tell you that." I said with a smile. She smiled as well through her frown. "You really do know me well."

She put the leg down, her frown suddenly disappearing as if the wound disappeared with its sight.

"Now, show me yours." she inquired. I was reluctant to do so. It was just a scratch afterall. However, as I said before, she was stubborn. She forcefully rolled up my shirt to see it. I frowned. "It's nothing serious, don't worry about it."

She took a dezinfectional liquid and poured a bit on a bandage, then put it harshly on my wound, cleansing it. I instatnly gritted my teeth in pain.

"You're stupid enough to almost get shot, but I won't let you be stupid enough not to clean and bandage it." Her voice was a little shaky again in an attempt to control it. Yep, she still had the right to be mad. She bandaged the wound. I was somehow glad the car had darkened windows, because the sight of two people taking care of each others' wounds in a completely smashed car would surely seem strange.

"You know, you could have taken me with you." she said quietly, anger clear in her voice.

I sighed. "We survived, it doesn't matter anymore." I said neutrally.

"Yes it does." she retorted and crossed her arms. "If I were with you, this wouldn't have to happen." she growled. I put my hand on her shoulder. She kept glaring in front of her. "I would have hacked the damn system without detonating the stupid explosions."

"That's true, but what about the trap?"

"I took them all down, remember?"

"You were hidden."

"So what?!" she shouted angrily and finally looked at me. I answered calmly.  
"You really think I would admit the possibility of you getting killed is the better one?"

"And you think it's alright when you get hurt?! And I'm injured regardless!" her voice was shaking again and I noticed the tears slowly welling up in her eyes.

She wasn't usually like this.. She is a sensible person who thinks before acts, even though her speech can be a bit unwise sometimes. But never like this. It almost made me feel guilty. Fortunately I knew why I did what I did.

"What were you thinking?! You could have died in there! You have no idea how scared I was! I…" I stopped her words with a deep kiss. Her eyes widened and the tears started running down her cheeks. She wanted to pull away, but I didn't let her. I emraced her tightly and deepened the kiss. She hesitatnly closed her eyes and kissed back.

I knew. I could understand too well how she felt without her telling me.

We pulled back for air and stared into each others eyes. I caressed her hair gently wiping the tears from her face. "Please, understand." I whispered. She smiled sadly.

"Please, don't do this to me anymore."

"I can't promise you that. Your life is more important to me than mine after all. But I promise not to make you worry unnecessarily." She frowned a bit but smiled aftewards. "Well, I guess I can't argue with that since I can't promise you anything more either." I kissed her softly once again.

Then I put the first aid kit on the back seat. The car key was where she left it, ready to start the engine. It wasn't so stupid to leave it in there since the car was already stolen and damaged. I turned the key in an attempt to start the engine. Attempt failed. I tried again, but the engine didn't respond. I turned my gaze on Tina, who had the innocent smile again, looking elsewhere.

"You know," I said while finally succesfully starting the engine, "I understand you were in a hurry, but it would be nice of you to leave the car able to drive the next time."

_Whack!_ We both almost jumped. Tina chuckled.

"I'll keep that in mind mr. _I love street lamps_." I frowned. OK, I guess I do not have the right to question someone else's driving abilities.

I slowly drived into the street. It was much smoother than the last time I drived (I can't forget to say, it was my first time to drive then) but in a car like this we would attract attention even if I was the best driver in the world. Luckily there were too many cars for someone to notice a smashed toyota making its way through.

"So, what now? Did you get the address of the main hideout?" Tina asked casually as if riding with me was so usual.

"Yes, I did." I answered shortly.

"And?" Her voice was getting impatient.

"And we need rest right now, so I'm looking for a place to stay. We'll strike in the evening. And we also need a hacker."

She lifted one eyebrow. "What about me? Am I not good enough?"

"We need a hacker outside." I smiled. "I guess you won't let me go in there on my own."

"Hell no! You're not going on your own anywhere from now on." she answered stubbornly.

"Not even into the bathroom?"

"Nope!" she replied instantly.

I tried to set the mirrors to see the road behind me. Well, at least one was able to show me that. The street seemed calm even though there were many cars.

"What about my brother? He's a fine hacker."

"You think he'll be at home?"

She shrugged. " I'm not sure, we can call him later."

The sirens abruptly interrupted our conversation. I looked into the mirror and saw a police car chasing us and more of them joining it. "Shit!" I put the pedal down, the car quickening its pace. Tina instantly turned around confused. "What the fuck?!"

I took a sharp turn right, which threw her in the door. "Hey! Be careful, the door almost fell of."

I kept staring in front of me, looking for a way out.

"It's not my fault you crushed them before."

She growled as she rubbed the place on her head that got hit. "Why are they chasing us anyway?"

I sharply turned left for a change and she almost fell on me.

"You know the gang we are chasing has a big influence in this city. We can't depend on the police anymore." She widened her eyes slightly, and didn't ask more.

I got into an empty narrow street. The side mirrors were suddenly gone. Damn street lamps… never mind. The sirens kept getting closer. How uncomfortable. My mind raced. I was mentally searching for a place to hide where I could get without using the highway, which would soon be cut off. _Damn!_

There was no time. I kept going as fast as possible through the narrow streets. The sirens were almost deafening, disabling me to think clearly. I noticed far too late they cut the escape route in front of me.

"Shit!" I sharply turned to even narrower street, which obviously wasn't meant for cars. The back doors screeched. The car was being tossed by the uneven pavement.

Fortunately the policemen weren't stupid enough to follow me in this hellishly narrow street. We finally got out of the street and the back doors fell off. I finally knew where I wanted to go and turned right. The drivers must have cursed me a lot. I thoroughly avoided the cars, but it surely wasn't as easy as it is displayed in action movies.

The sirens got stronger again and I noticed three cars chasing me again.

"Shoot the tyres." I said, while dodging another car.

"Roger." Tina harshly broke the side window and leaned out. I grabbed her belt to assure her stability and dodged a truck. She started shooting but I had no idea whether she got her target. I noticed they started shooting back. Tina got back in and frowned. "This is not going to work." she mumbled and shot the windscreen. She quickly pushed it away and lied on the bonnet, shooting at the police cars from a better angle. I grabbed her calf and kept dodging the cars riding opposite me.

I turned sharply, dodging another truck. Rhoditina slided on the edge of the bonnet getting even better angle to shoot and me getting even harder time to dodge the cars.

"I got one!" she shouted and kept on shooting.

A bullet flew near my head, scrathing her tigh. She screamed in pain.

"Get back in!" I ordered her when a big truck rode few centimeters from her head.

"No way!" she retorted. I harshly pulled her calf, getting her in. She glared at me. "Idiot, I could have gotten them all!"

"You could have gotten yourself shot." Another bullet flew dangerously near my head. She widened her eyes. "Why aren't they shooting at our tyres? Are they trying to kill us?"

"They're paid to do so, I'm afraid."

I frowned. There were too few cars for some reason and there was only one explanation. They'd already blocked the road.

The cars slowly disappeared from the road, only the police cars chasing us grew on their numbers. They kept shooting and I must admit, it's much easier to dodge a truck than a bullet.

After a while of desperate riding I could see the roadblock. I noticed Tina's widened eyes at the sight. I gritted my teeth and tried to push the pedal even lower. The car sped up a bit, the roadblock getting closer. Tina at first looked at me with even more widened eyes but then smirked. Good.

She knew what to do. She loaded her guns and lied on the bonnet aiming in front of her. The policemen started shooting instantly. I tried dodging erratically but it was no use, so I kept going straight. One of the shots scratched my shoulder and another one almost got Tina's arm but she dodged and kept aiming without shooting yet. We were getting close in an incredible speed. The sirens were aproaching us from behind. There was no place ot time for hesitation.

"Now!" I shouted and Tina shot down two barricades with her perfect aim. The policemen backed up as I sped up, my leg already numb from the pressure I aplied on the pedal. We reached the barricade and everything around me slowed down.


	3. 3

3.

The car hit the barricade and flew into the air turning around. Rhoditina, who was still lying on the bonnet fell off.

I managed to catch her waist tightly and twisted the steering wheel. The impact of the car hitting the road almost knocked the breath out of me. The car turned around and I stepped on the pedal again, returning the wheel to its normal position. We headed out away from the roadblock at full speed, the sirens slowly receding.

I sighed. The pain of my scratched shoulder finally came. I looked at my co-driver. She was panting slightly and sat loosely on the seat. I frowned a bit at the sight of her belly that was cut by the remnants of the windscreen. She subconsciously crossed her arms to block me that sight. "You really like to risk your life." she said accusingly and amusedly at the same time. I turned my attention to the road again and smirked. "Fortunately I have you to take care of me."

"I don't think it's so fortunate. You're depending on me too much…"

"That only means you can't leave me anymore." I looked into her eyes. She seemed surprised by what I said and blushed a bit. "O-of course I won't leave you. You can't even take care of yourself." She stuck out her tongue. I smiled and looked at the road again.

The roadblocks have one slight disadvantage for the police. If someone is insane enough to jump over them, they can't pursue them a while. And that while was more than enough for us to find safety.

I parked the car in an empty street. It seemed the car won't be riding any time soon if ever. Tina walked out the car into a phone box. She roughly uncovered the phone, tore two cables, and put them together. Afterwards she dialed a number and took the phone to her ear. When the person on the other side answered she smiled.

I opened the door of the car and they fell off noisily. I frowned at the damn scrap. However, I didn't mind since I didn't plan on driving for a while.

Tina hanged up and came to me. "He said he will come to the address you gave me at five."

"That's good." I was glad my plan was slowly starting to work but I guess I shouldn't get carried away. There was still much to do.

I started walking down the street. She followed me a bit puzzled. "Where are we going?"

"To the address I gave you."

"What's in there?"

"An apartment we'll use today."

"You're talking awfully briefly. Can't you at least tell me what your plan is?" she asked impatiently. I stopped without looking at her. "Right now, we need some rest. I'll tell you the plan when Matt arrives."

"You know he will be there in 6 hours at best."

"Yes, I do."

She growled a bit but didn't ask more. I went on, with her following me.

After a long silent while we got to the address. It was a simple empty apartment. The owners went to holiday and wouldn't be there for a few days so I decided to use their absence. How impolite of me.

Tina walked in curiously. "Whose is this apartment?"

"For the next few hours it's ours."

She grinned not needing further explanation and sat on the couch comfortably. I went to the bathroom and quickly found what I needed: the first aid kit. I brought it to the living room and sat next to her. She yawned lazily. "We are more like criminals lately. The car, now this apartment… don't you think?"

I took out a gauze and a dezinfectional liquid.  
"Criminal is such an ugly word. Let's say we're detectives in need."

She frowned. "That sounds as if we're homeless."

"Aren't we?"

"You may but I'm not. I dutifully pay for a flat." she stuck out her tongue.

"Show me your wounds." I requested.

"Why do I always have to be the first one treated?" She frowned again relucatant to do as I said.

"Because once again, your wounds are worse than mine."

"Whatever… Now's my turn to nurse you. Let me!" She streched her arm for the gauze but I roughly took her wrist and made her lie down on her back. She stared at me a bit startled but quickly shook it off. She put her free hand on my chest and pushed me away. I took it as well and pinned both her wrists above her head with one hand. She narrowed her eyes at me. "That's not fair, you know." Her legs rose instantly as she said it and she continued her attempt to get up. I slightly stood up and sat on her tighs pinning her on the couch completely. She made a sullen face and looked away. I rolled up her shirt and started removing the shards of glass from her wounds. She twitched everytime I did so, but was too offended to make a sound.

"I think it's completely fair to take care of the worse wounds first."

"Hmph!"

I finished cleansing the wounds, all the bloodied shards of glass on the table. I let go of her wrists and moved lower, to take care of the scratch on her thigh, but she pushed me away and stood up. "I'm going to take a shower." she said simply and walked to the bathroom.

I lifted one eyebrow but had no reason to stop her. I took off my shirt and started cleansing the scratch on my shoulder. I gritted my teeth. I hate scratches, they hurt the worst. Fortunately it wasn't very deep although it hurt all the more.

After a short while I put the blodied gauze on the table and leaned on the couch lazily. It wasn't even the noon yet, and I was already exhausted. The weather made the impression of an evening, so it was all the more exhausting.

I closed my eyes, listening to Tina's shower singing. I've gotta admit she's got a talent. She could have been a singer if the fate had been more convenient. But fate often plays strange games with us.

After a while I heard the bathroom door opening and a wet air approached me for a second. I heard Tina's barefoot steps towards me. She stopped in front of me and I finally opened my eyes and stared at her. She was dressed in nothing but a towel and watched me attentively.

I smiled warmly. "Is something bothering you?"

She bit her lip. "I've been thinking… about yesterday."

The memory instantly flew through my mind: I had stripped her lustfully and after seeing the frightened look in her eyes simply held her close without taking forcefully something she should give me willingly.

"What about it?" I asked casually, hiding my slight eagerness.

She averted her eyes. "I think… I think we should do it."

I waited patientaly, because I knew she had more to say and was just looking for the right words. She gathered her thoughts and looked me in the eyes determined.

"Today I realised that if I lost you without telling you how much I love you, I would never forgive myself. You're the most important person in my life and... and…" she took a deep breath.

"And I just want to show you how much I care about you by doing this. I'm ready."

I couldn't hold myself any longer. I stood up abruptly, grabbed her arms, and layed her on the couch, pinning her with my own weight. I put my head on her chest, listening to her hearbeat. It was fast and she was stiff in my embrace. Shocked, or maybe afraid… I didn't know. I didn't move for a while and kept embracing her tightly. She slowly began to relax, her heartbeat slowing down. She embraced me as well, her hands tracing down my bare back. I raised my head and kissed her gently. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise but she quickly gained the certainty of her decision. She was ready to give herself to me.

And I took all of her…


	4. 4

4.

I woke up on the sharp touch of the setting sun. I opened my eyes and stared at the clock. 5:25 p.m. Rhoditina was soundly sleeping in my arms, her breathing calm. We were lying naked on the couch covered with only a thin blanket. My nose was tickled by cigarette smoke.  
"You've had a good time as I can see."

I turned my gaze towards the armchair on the other side of the room. A redhead sat there with a cigarette in his hand, smirking at me slightly.

"I can't deny that."

I slowly stood up and covered Rhoditina's sleeping form with the blanket. I put on my pants and sat on an armchair opposite the redhead. I rummaged through the first aid kit which was still disassembled on the table and started bandaging my shoulder.

"Thanks for coming, Matt." I said while paying attention to the wound.

Matt blew a small circle of smoke, which lazily dispersed in the air.

"You're welcome." he replied briefly. "What's the case this time?"

I slowly stood up and searched the flat for a computer. I was lucky. They left their laptop at home. Matt watched me the whole time, lazily litting another cigarette. I sat on the armchair again, switched on the laptop, and looked up the data I needed.

Rhoditina lazily turned on her belly, the blanket revealing her bare back. Her regular breathing implied she was still sleeping. Matt let out another circle of smoke, more visible than the one before.

The setting sun coloured the room in warm orange. It all seemed so normal and peaceful. As if we were normal citizens, spending usual evening together. As if we weren't daily risking our lives…

On the screen appeared a picture of highly exclusive hotel with casino… on the outside. Now I knew it was the hideout I was looking for.

I finally found the place. After long months of search I finally found the damned place.

I chewed my thumb subsonsciously, a plan slowly arising in my mind. In the next 12 hours this place would fall and I personally wanted to take care of it.

My chain of thoughts was interrupted by Rhoditina taking a deep breath. She slowly opened her eyes smiling at me tiredly.

"Good morning," Matt said to her while puffing on the cigarette.

"Hey, Matt."

She sat up and stretched her arms, making the blanket fall down revealing her chest. Matt blushed and looked at me almost nervously. I chuckled. Tina didn't seem to mind our presence at all.

She stood up yawning and walked to the bathroom. Matt's blush didn't disappear for a while. "Damn! I realise I haven't known her for more than a few years, but I'm sure she was much more shy…"

I smirked. "You shouldn't be surprised. Today I made a woman out of her."

He lifted one eyebrow. "I would never have guessed you're this kind of a person."

"You have to admit that your sister is beautiful and she…"

"Let's not talk about it anymore."

"As you wish."

Matt puffed out another circle of smoke. There was a silence interrupted only by the flowing water in the bathroom. After a while, Tina's singing joined as well.

"You've got a plan?" Matt said to break the silence.

I shrugged. "Kind of…"

I could hear his low-pitched chuckle. "As usual."

Tina walked out of the bathroom, wearing only a towel. She stretched her arms, yawned and hurled herself on the couch lazily. She looked at me curiously. "So, what's the plan?"

I didn't answer, because I wasn't sure myself. I knew they both were looking at me awaiting the answer. I just kept staring at the picture, as if the plan was supposed to jump out of it. What did I know about the place? First of all, it was the main hideout of one of the most powerful mafias in Japan.

I stood up thoughtfully, and walked around the room. I could feel both of their gazes at me awaiting the answer.

What else did I know? It was a highly exclusive hotel with restaurant, casino, swimming pool, a parking lot for helicopters and 24 floors. Since it was such a high building, it ought to have wide ventilation system and of course the electricity system should be divided into more parts…

I stopped walking and quickly realized Tina with Matt were smirking at each other. Yeah, they both know me well. I had a plan and they knew it. What was important to me was that they trusted me. What a heart-warming feeling to have friends, isn't it?

I ran into the bedroom and rummaged through the closets. They both followed me curiously. After a while I found long red evening dress, seemingly fit for Tina's slim figure. I took them out and set on the bed for both of them to see. Their eyes widened in surprise and I smirked.  
"Lady and gentleman, it's time to get fancy tonight."


	5. 5

5.

No, the ventilation wasn't as wide as I thought. Fortunately wide enough for me to crawl through. It was kind of cliché that a person is able to get anywhere in the building just by using a screwdriver. And the back entrance for employees was very convenient for me. But these facts were for me almost meaningless since I had no way to get any kind of information I required and worst of all, I couldn't pass through more than three floors. The ventilation was divided into eight parts and I was in the one closest to bottom… wish me luck.

"Ryuzaki, Christina has entered the building." I heard Matt mumble through the ear-mic.

"Ryuzaki, Christina will kill you after this evening." I smiled as I heard the angry but silent growl from Tina. "But you must admit the dress suits you."

"Shut the fuck up."

I smirked but obeyed. She was now in the building acting as Christina Thompson. With that name it wasn't very hard to enter the restaurant. However, since she was already inside, I didn't have much time. I quickened my pace and clamberred up another floor. I was on the third floor… another twenty-one to go.

I crawled through to find another opening. I was lucky enough to find it on the corridor and even luckier to see nobody in there. "Matt, can you see my location?" I whispered.

"I can."

"Where's that jerk?"

"I can hear you, you know."

"I don't care… jerk."

"Thanks for the trust."

"Christina, focus on the dinner," Matt interrupted our small talk. "Don't arouse suspicion by mumbling."

"Tch!"

"Matt, are here any traps?"

There was a short silence as Matt searched the building for any possible traps and located them. A little awkvard… waiting in the ventilation with sore knees and risking my life while Tina was having dinner in a super exclusive restaurant for the first and probably last time in her life, and Matt was sitting in a strangers' flat, using three laptops at the same time.

"You're a lucky guy, Ryuzaki. There's one single trap on the third floor and you're looking at it."

"What a lucky jerk~"

"Christina, please shut up." Matt retorted calmly. Tina would have probably pouted if it wasn't necessary for her to remain unrevealed.

"What kind of a trap?"

Two people passed through the corridor and entered the elevator. The corridor was empty again. How convenient.

"…There… it should be fixed. You have 120 seconds to pass."

Shit! First complication at the beginning. And I was stupid enough to hope I wouldn't have to be avoiding any specific traps until the eight part of ventilation. I quickly undid the latticed lid and started to set the screws in there.

"60 seconds." My next task wasn't as easy as undoing the lid. The opening was pretty high on the wall. I had only one chance to jump down, with the lid closing behind me as it had been before.

"30 seconds." Still not done. The screws were a new type and I had no experience of handling them. Wrong… I needed to find another way to set it.

"15 seconds, hurry!" Even Matt's voice was starting to sound nervous. I breathed calmly, setting every little split in the right place.

"5 seconds!" Matt exclaimed urgently. I set one last screw in place and it was time to take the risk, no time for checking. I crawled through the small opening, holding onto the lid behind me. I jumped, pulling the lid. Everything seemed to slow down. Every little heartbeat as an unending hour. If I had screwed up this little task, all the work I'd done so far would have been for nothing. I looked up at the opening. It closed and clicked satisfyingly. Matt sighed relieved. "Good, you didn't trigger the alarm."

I just then realized I was breathing heavily and sweat was covering me. Not very good for the heart, was it?

But this was no time to care about my health.  
"Matt, where is the emergency staircase?"

"At the end of the corridor. And hurry. People are approaching the third floor."

I ran as fast and as silently as I could. I was lucky they had carpets, which succesfully dimmed my footsteps.

I ran swiftly by the elevator. The number two was blinking together with the arrow pointing up. I hurried up, reaching the door in a few seconds. Locked…

Dammit!

The elevator doors started to open. _Screwdriver, don't fail me now._

Matt surged me through the ear-mic but I was focused solely on the lock. Another new model… they made sure someone as old-fashioned as me won't have it easy in here.

I finally picked the lock, when a few people left the elevator. They were laughing and chatting merily. It was clear from their voices they'd been drinking the whole evening.

Good. They might have not noticed me and surely wouldn't remember. I slipped through the door silently and closed them, the lock clicking to place.

I found myself in and old emergency staircase. What a _beautiful_ sight to behold. Even if I had spent three days in this particular place, I wouldn't have been able to find all the spiderwebs. Very pleasant, isn't it?

"Matt, are there any traps in the staircase througout all floors?"

There was again a short silence. Tina was probably still too angry to even make fun of me.

"There are no traps on the emergency staircase but the last three floors are blocked from the corridor. You can get only up to 20th floor."

I sighed relieved. 17 floors without complications… finally some good news. I started walking upstairs.

I wanted to check whether Tina is alright as well. "Christina, how is it going?"

I frowned as only silence answered my question.

"Christina, answer his question, please." Matt demanded calmly. Silence answered him as well. I unconsciously quickened my pace and I heard Matt cursing.

"What is it?"

"Christina's mic is turned off. She can't hear us."

"Where is she?"

"She dumped the mic, I can't tell."

Shit! I ran upstairs as fast as I could. I had an idea where she could be and sincerely hoped I was wrong…


	6. 6

6.: Tina

I walked on the street, my heels clopping loudly. I still wondered how L managed to make me wear this fucking dress. So uncomfortable… and I felt like a total jerk. How can people even wear things like this?!

I frowned. L would pay for doing this to me…

Yes, I wanted to help him with this stupid case thath took us forever to even figure out this place… However, was it really necessary for me to dress up like that? Dammit all…

I was starting to feel angry at myself for feeling angry. I adjusted the ear-mic Matt gave me and prepared to fake my calm expression for the next hour.

I walked in the high exclusive building, the guards letting me in with no complications. Maybe the dress was good for something afterall… even though I still felt like a jerk.

I took a deep breath. From then on I was supposed to act as a composed and exclusive guest of this super exclusive hotel. I came to the receptionist.  
"How can I help you?" he asked politely. That was unusual for me… I don't think I would ever be able to get used to such manners.

"My name is Christina Thompson. I have a reservation in the restaurant."

The receptionist typed something in his small computer and his eyes widened in surprise.

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid there's no reservation for that name…"

His phone ringed. He seemed even more surprised when he looked at the display. He apologized, took a step back and answered the call turning away from me.

Everything went just as L predicted…

"_Use the name Christina Thompson."_

_I frowned slightly confused. "Why? Can't I just make up any name?"_

_L shook his head. "It's vital that you use this name. You'll say you have a reservation in the restaurant. The receptionist will type your name into his computer. Of course, there will be no reservation for you but since the computer is part of a site, everyone will be able to find out easily whose name he wrote. I presume someone will call him right afterwards and they will let you in the restaurant."_

_I frowned even more. "How do you know that much?"_

"_Just trust me, I'll explain later. Just remember the name Christina Thompson."_

I still wondered why he had chosen the name and how he'd knew this would happen.

The receptionist turned to me again. "I'm sorry for the mistake. There's a table prepared for you in the restaurant."

I smiled and tried to thank him as politely as he was behaving to me. I think I failed but he didn't seem to mind… or was paid not to mind… or he was simply just as confused as I was about the name.

I walked towards the restaurant, a waiter already heading to me as well. He had a forced but polite smile and seemed to be ready to welcome me to the restaurant. He greeted me and led me in. I felt so awkward I can't even describe it. Wearing a fancy dress is one thing but acting so snobbishly and being almost fussing over by strangers was much worse…. Oh, L, you will so regret making me do this.

The waiter led me to a table set for one person. He took my coat, pulled away the stool for me and when I sat down he offered me the daily menu…. awkward. I didn't even know what I chose since the names were so expressive I had no idea what the meal really was…

The waiter finally left and I sighed. I had known this would be no fun but I hadn't imagined something so troublesome.

"Ryuzaki, Christina has entered the building." I heard Matt mumble through the ear-mic and I couldn't help myself.

"Ryuzaki, Christina will kill you after this evening." I imagined he was somewhere in the ventilation right now and I could very well hear the smile in his voice when he said: "But you must admit the dress suits you."

I gritted my teeth angrily, trying not to lose it in front of all those people.

"Shut the fuck up."

He could have at least not make fun of me in this situation. I hate when he teases me this way… I took a deep breath to calm myself. I tried to comfort myself with the thought that I can kill him when we finish this freaking case.

"Matt, can you see my location?" L whispered.

"I can." Matt answered briefly as usual… but I was curious.

"Where's that jerk?"

"I can hear you, you know."

"I don't care… jerk."

"Thanks for the trust."

"Christina, focus on the dinner. Don't arouse suspicion by mumbling."

"Tch!" I had to grit my teeth again. Those two jerks! I took another deep breath and tried to distract myself by playing with the expensive golden ring I had. L gave me all kinds of accessories to look more rich and snobbish enough for them to let me in. Another cause why I felt as a total jerk.

"Matt, are here any traps?"

So much for my distraction. He was probably in the ventilation, risking his life to get to the highest floor and he awaited me to calmly sit in the restaurant and enjoy dinner.

"You're a lucky guy, Ryuzai. There's one single trap on the third floor and you're looking at it."

So, he was still on the third floor? Thanks for the information, bro.

"What a lucky jerk~"

"Christina, please shut up." Matt pleaded calmly. Another jerk who would like to tell me what to do.

"What kind of a trap?"

There was a silence between those two. I presumed Matt was already working on disabling the trap.

The waiter brought me an appetizer.

"Bon apettit." he said with a terrible english accent in that… shall I call it French?

"Merci beaucoup." I answered attempting to sound politely. The waiter smiled and walked away. Oh, how I wished that evening would end soon.

"…There… it should be fixed. You have 120 seconds to pass."

Not good… I supressed a smirk. He sure was a lucky jerk. First complication on the third floor, how convenient. And he was supposed to manage another 21 floors. Such a jerk… Neverthless I still hoped he will get through the trap before triggering the alarm. Yes, of course it was none of my bussiness. If he got caught I wouldn't be suspected of any cooperation with him… well, I mean if I wouldn't try to rescue him…

I tried to pay attention to the dinner and stop polemizing about what L is doing at the moment. I tried to ignore the fact my palms were sweating and gulped a bit louder as I intended.

"60 seconds." Matt informed. _Come on, you jerk, you can't stop on the third floor!_

I looked away from the plate and exmined the people in the restaurant. I desperately tried to divert my thoughts from L. He would managed, of that I was certain. However, my palms kept sweating and my hands were starting to shake slightly.

_I so hate this powerlessness. Why does he have to risk his life while I sit in this freaking restaurant waiting?!_

I gritted my teeth.

"30 seconds."

My eyes widened as a white haired man entered the restaurant. _No… this can't be! Don't tell me…_ my hands started shaking uncontrolably and I instantly put them under the table, clenching my fists firmly. _No, no, no!_

My heart raced and even my lips started to shake. The man was scanning the restaurant, probably looking for me. This wasn't good at all.

"15 seconds, hurry!"

My hand instantly flew up to turn off the mic and block Matt's urgent information that were meant for L. I unnoticably threw the mic on the ground and stepped on it with my high and sharp heel. I knew it wasn't a cheap device but I didn't want Matt or L get involved in this. I took a deep breath to compose myself. The man found me with his gaze and approached me with a sly smile. A smile I was so scared of… many memories ran through my mind and I tried to supress them. This was no time for this.

I was certain he was the one behind the whole mafia.

I clenched my fist under the table again. The man came to me with two guards behind him.

"Good evening, Miss Thomps."

I so hate his voice! One sentence and my determination shattered. He grinned as he saw my startled expression. I instantly regretted breaking the mic. Matt! L! Anyone! I didn't want to counter this man, I couldn't…

_Come on, Tina. You can't be so weak right now!_

I clenched my fists even tighter, my nails digging into my palms painfully.

_Not time to panic. You're on your own now._

I took a deep breath, my lower lip shaking, so I bit it nervously.

The man's sly grin widened. "I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner but I'll have to ask you to come with me."

"And if I reject this attractive offer?" my obstinacy spoke.

"I'm afraid you do not have the advantage to decide." The two guards took a step from behind him to attract my attention. I looked around nervously.

No, this man would be able to make a ruckus in this restaurant full of people just to make me cooperate. I stood up, surrenderingly.

The man snickered. "I'm glad you decided to do this the easier way."


	7. 7

7.: L

I was panting heavily, my legs burning. No, I didn't want to stop, I couldn't. I kept running upstairs as fast as possible.

"Ryuzaki, there's a problem. If you leave the staircase at 20th floor, you won't be able to get to the higher floors."

"How come…?" I asked through panting.

"The three highest floors are locked up. The buttons in elevators, the normal staircases, everything has special locks."

"So the only… possible access to the… 24th floor is… through the emergency staircase… is it?"

"Yes, technically… but the doors are also locked. However, only from the outside. We'll think of something when you get there."

I gritted my teeth and fastened my pace.

_Just when I thought my plan might actually work without further complication. What could have happened?_

My mind raced as fast as my legs.

_She was supposed to wait until they come for her and calmly follow them to the highest floor… I pressume that's what happened but… Why would she turn off the mic?_

I tried to distract myself from these thoughts as I kept running. I needed to find out what happenned but there was no way for me to figure it out by myself. Patience… something I lack so badly.

I reached the highest floor. "Matt, tell me what's the deal with this lock."

The door was seemingly old. Even the lock seemed simple and fragile.

"It's a new model they developed themselves… I have no idea what would happen if you tried to open it with a screwdriver."

I clenched my fists. There was no time for guesses and mistakes! I needed to get through quickly.

_Shall I try to pick the lock? No… the risk is not worth it. They would know she's not alone and I can't afford to lose this advantage…_

I looked around, desperately looking for something to use. I was still panting slightly from the run. I took a deep breath to calm both my breathing and nerves. I chewed my thumnb subconsciously. Fifteen minutes had passed since Tina last contacted us… I remembered the structure of this building. The highest floor was built differently than the others. The rooms were placed differently and there was pratically no corridor that joined more then two rooms. Even if I passed this door, I probably wouldn't be able to get to the place I pressumed Tina was in.

I clenched my fists again and hit the wall angrily, killing a spider that was unfortunate enough to crawl by at the moment.

"Calm down, Ryuzaki." Matt warned me calmly.

I took another deep breath. He was right. I needed to calm down. There always is a way…

I looked around once again. My gaze stopped right above me. I almost laughed at my own ignorance.

"Matt, are there any traps in the ventilation system in here?"

There was a short silence before he answered.

"There's a trap but I can disable it for 60 seconds. Would that be enough?"

I stared at the ventilation 4 metres above me, then looked around again. If I managed to get into the ventilation, I would have access to the whole floor… All I needed was to climb the 4 metres and got through the opening in 60 seconds.

I took a few steps back from the wall and took out my oh, so reliable screwdriver. I measured the distance with one glance.

I had no time for more tries.

I started running as quickly as I could. Few steps, jump, take as many steps vertically as possible and jump again… I spent a few seconds in the air and wondered whether the ventilation wasn't supposed to be a bit lower…

Instead of landing about the ventilation tunnel, I hardly managed to grab the edge with one hand. Ugh! Not a very convenient landing. I stayed hanging at the edge with one hand, the opening half a meter away from me. If I let go, there would be two possible scenarios: I fall or I manage to get in.

"Matt, I'm not sure I'll be able to make it in 60 seconds."

"Why not?"

"Can't you give me more time?"

"Wait a second, I still don't know how to disable the trap…"

I put the screwdriver back into my pocket hoping it wouldn't fall and grabbed the edge with my other hand as well. I gritted my teeth. My palms were sweating as I tried my best to hold on. I had to move closer to the opening. The sweat was streaming down my face. So uncomfortable.

"Matt… are you… done… already?"

"Just a second… It seems the lid is electrical… I might find a way to open it for you without triggering the trap."

My fingers were going numb. Again I had to fight the lack of my beloved patience. The worst was that I didn't know what happened to Tina. I wouldn't mind waiting if I knew she was alright. Dammit!

I adjusted my hands to prevent fall. I tried to distract myself from those thoughts… and failed miserably.

_Why did she turn off the mic? What happened?_

These questions kept invading my mind without any answer.

The lid suddenly opened on its own, hanging by two threads of electrical connection with the ventilation.

"You have ten seconds, hurry!"

I so love Matt's sudden warnings.

I instantly started rocking my legs. I had only one chance to get in, no repetitions. I let go of the edge and hurled myself towards the opening. The world was spinning around me but all I needed to see was the hole.

I thrust my legs into the opening, clinged to the edge, hanging upside-down.

"5 seconds!"  
_Yea, Matt, that's what I needed to hear._ I bent upwards and grabbed the edge with my hands, clambering up as fast as I could.

The lid closed with a click. I panted heavily heaped in the narrow ventilation tunnel. That was close. I was lucky Matt figured out how to open it.

"Good, you've made it." Matt said with a relieved sigh. I guess this was as healthy for his nerves as it was for mine.

"Thanks to you… So what deadly hellish traps are awaiting me now?"

"There are a lot of motion sensors. I might be able to partially disable it so you can crawl whenever you need. Right now, go straight, I'll tell you when to stop."

"You can see the room on the map, right?"

"Yes, I'll navigate you there."

"Great."

I started crawling through the narrow tunnel. So uncomfortable… However, I didn't pay attention to it. I just wanted… All I needed was to find Tina.

And that was the only thing on my mind.


	8. 8

8.: Tina

The man was walking before me and his two loyal guards were following me closely watching my every move. My mind had never been so full of escape plans as that moment. I was glad I was walking because otherwise I would have trembled as hell. Only if I could have stop my mind from thinking so badly. The memories, the escape plans, everything was crossing my mind that moment and it felt like eternity 'till we finally came to the elevator.

When we did, I really started to tremble. Fortunately the guards were not only blocking my escape route, but also almost the whole sight of us. The guests wouldn't have noticed anything suspicious about this little company.

But again, that was not what I cared about. The frightening white-haired man was standing right before me, his sly smile sending shivers down my spine.

I was mentally cursing everything. Cursing this man, crusing his guards, cursing my stupidity to destroy the mic… I was even cursing L for making me do this… but then quickly took it back. He hadn't the slightest idea this man would show up… or had he?

I clenched my fists. This was absolutely no time to be thinking about that.

The elevator doors opened and the man indicated me to enter. I looked around nervously before doing so. There was no help for me. I had to handle it on my own.

The man walked into the elevator together with his guards and thanks to a special key pressed the button to the highest floor. The elevator moved and my mind started to race again.

_L is still in this building even though I can't contact him… everything is going as he planned so he probably knows where to find me when I don't respond… However, I need to find a way to show him I'm still here…_

"_Take this device." L handed a small stamp-like electronic thingy to me and I looked at it confused. "What is it?"_

"_When you reach the highest floor, try to attach it to the elevator's buttons on the outside without anyone noticing. It will help Matt to disable the electric line in that part of the building. But if you risk being noticed, don't do it…"_

I clenched my fists nervously again. _This is my last chance to give them a sign of where I am._

I mentally slapped myself. _No! I can't let L take care of my problems again!..._

_But I guess he's looking for me anyway, it would only help him if I led him here._

"So, Nicollet…"

I instantly snapped out of my mental march and looked at the man. His sly grin hadn't disappeared.

"… I haven't seen you for quite a while. How have you been doing?"

I gritted my teeth. This man… I hated everything about him. His voice, his face, his stupid grin and his stupid mask he wore in public. Anger hot as a burning flame started to vibrate through my chest. This anger was cooled abruptly by my own fear. The look in his dishonest eyes was killing me, made me wanna run and hide so he would never find me again. I tried hard to supress the memories that were again invading my mind.

"I've been fine since I didn't met you." I retorted through gritted teeth. The man's grin widened. "That's not very nice of you to say to your own uncle."

"You didn't do very 'nice' things to your own niece, so I think it's alright for me to say what I want." my stupid obstinacy had to speak again.

The man frowned a bit, but his atrocious smile returned almost instantly.

"I see no one has taught you manners yet. It's time to do so."

My eyes widened, my lower lip shaing again. _He can't mean…_

I took a deep breath to calm myself. _This is simple… either he needs me for something or he's going to kill me to shut me up. I just need to kill him before he does… _

All I wanted was revenge. The hatred cleared my mind from everything else. I had to do it and do it alone. Of that I was certain.

The elevator finally stopped at the highest floor and the door slowly opened. The two guards walked out first and stood next to the entrance, as if making sure I won't run away. I almost smirked. I had no intention of running. Not anymore. I wasn't the little defenseless girl he knew.

The man walked out of the elevator, I followed him with the two guards behind. We walked through a few doors, each of them needed a special key. Kind of meaningless in my opinion… What was so important to hide so thoroughly? His office?

After a while we walked to a seemingly ordinary door. The only oddity was the fact it had 4 locks. Seriously… how paranoid can he get?

The two guards stood to both sides of the door and the man opened all locks with keys I've never seen before. _Would L be able to open this door with his screwdriver?_

The man entered the room and I wanted to follow him, but one of the guards didn't let me.

"At first, hand us the electronic device you're hiding in your pocket."

I frowned, took out the damned thing and threw it on the ground, my heel taking care of it for them. They didn't seem to be sattisfied with this kind of behaviour, but the man's voice stopped them. "You can let it be, she wasn't going to use it anyway. She doesn't even have any mic or radio gadget, so she is probably acting alone. You can let her in."

The guards took a step back to make way for me.

I walked in confidently. I still had my pride even though I wore this stupid ridiculous red dress which made me feel like a jerk.

The guards closed the door from outside. It was just me and my worst nightmare.

No disctractions, no chances for escape. It was obvious only one of us will leave this room and I was convinced I would be the one.

The man was looking out of the window. I stood patiently waiting for his move. He was probably stronger than me and prepared for my stupid moves, I had to think carefully before any action. At first I needed to know what he wanted to do. Probably just some small talk for now. I kinda barged into his building without invitation and he possibly wanted to know why… or how.

"Nicollet…" I winced. I wasn't used to being called by my real name. I'd almost forgotten it.

The man turned to me. "Tell me, how did you find me? I didn't expect you to be in Japan."

I smirked. "You underestimated me, if you thought I wouldn't find you sooner or later."

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to look for me at all. Who helped you?"

"You know I always work alone."

He chuckled, sending shivers down my spine again. Could he know I lied? No, he had no reason to think I did.

"So then, you know nothing about the little attack on one of my subdivisions in Shinjuku? By coincidence, someone has found a lot of meaningless information in there but one crucial: the address of this place. The cameras caught sight of two persons before the place exploded. I guess the timing of this attack and your visit is a complete accident, am I right?"

I revealed myself by biting my lip when he mentioned the attack. I tried to remain calm after it. He might have not noticed… I hoped.

"You have many subdivisions in Shinjuku, I have no idea which of them was attacked. As I said before, I work alone."

He snickered. I instinctively took a step back… and that was another mistake. My conviction from earlier was slowly shattering, the fear taking over me again. _Calm down, he doesn't know… and he won't find out._

"Why do I feel like you're hiding something from me, my dear Nicollet?"

"Are you so paranoid you don't even trust your own niece?"

"Ha! You think our relation makes you trustworthy? You probably don't trust me either, do you?"

"You're an atrocious person full of lies and deception. I could hardly ever trust you." My voice was slowly beginning to shake. I gulped. This was not good. He knew too much and was certainly stronger than me. I quickly needed to find a strategy.

"Oh, I'm flattered. From a woman who uses a false name to get my attention it sounds very believable. By the way, how did you found out the password to my system? Not even my employees know that one."

My eyes widened in surprise. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Ah, so you even didn't know what the name meant? Then it's obvious someone had to help you. You were never very good at lying, my dear."

_Shit… I gave away I wasn't working alone… But nothing's lost, he will never find out it was L._

"So what if I wasn't working alone? I came here on my own, you know that."

His sly smile widened again. "I wouldn't be so certain of it… but don't worry. We are already searching this building for intruders. I presume you have at least two people helping you. One of them is inside, hopelessly trying to find you without the connection you had earlier and the other one is outside, hacking into our system, am I right?"

Once again, my stupid habit of biting lip gave away that he was right. Once again I regretted abandoning the stupid mic… But it was too late for that. All I needed now was a way to kill this man. Then I would be able to save myself and L.

"So, dear Nicollet, I assume you know why I brought you up here."

I lifted one eyebrow. He knew very well I found that one out earlier.

"You intend to kill me, of course. You can't use me anymore so I became a nuisance to you."

He laughed maliciously. The truth hit me as the stupid fear returned. He controlled me as he wished. He played with me as if I was just his prey. And I had no choice but to play along, waiting for my last chance for escape.

"You're a bright girl. And courageous as well. You followed me despite knowing this fact. You're right that I can't let you go when you found my hideout and the password to my system. I have no idea why you came here tonight, but I can tell you it was your biggest mistake." He stated sattisfied.

"I came for revenge…" I mumbled. Probably my obstinacy again. It was a lie, but even I started to believe that statement. My voice was shaky but cold as well. I wanted him to know how much I hate him… how much he took from me…

"From the moment I escaped from you, there was nothing I wanted so badly as my revenge. You destroyed my childhood and my whole life! You took everything from me! And you think you can just forget and go on?! I won't let you! I will make you remember the pain you caused me! I'll kill you here and now!"

I still don't know where I got all that courage to say those words. I even took a few steps towards him to emphasize my declaration. His sly grin had finally disappeared and was replaced by shock and anger. I meant my words and he knew it. He simply couldn't stand me talking back to him like that.

He suddenly took a step towards me and slapped me ruthlessly.

I bent in the abrupt pain as I remembered the pain I wanted to forget. I took a few steps back sheepishly, my words falling to the ground as helpless leafs in autumn.

Fear overtook me again.

"You think you can talk to me like that?!" his loud voice scared me. I backed down until I met with a wall.

His appalling grin appeared again and mixed with the anger. His face became a grotesque image of a monster from my nightmares.

I leaned my back towards the wall hoping I could disappear… be anywhere else but here.

He took a simple knife from his pocket and walked towards me.

So that was his plan? Stab a knife into me? How original.

He closed the distance between us in a few steps, took both my wrists into his hand and put them above my head to disable my movements. I just then realized I was hardly breathing, the fear tying my chest in a painful manner.

The whitehaired hideous man put the knife near my neck and looked into my eyes with that nasty gaze.

"I might have let you live a bit longer, but there's the last thing I need from you."

My eyes widened, but I was unable to speak.

"You know, I'm an old man and have certain… problems with my heart. I might actually die in a few months, but now that you're here, the trasplantation will be easy since we're related."

_No! He can't just kill me and take my heart! This is not happening! No!_

I wanted to scream, but the fear kept tying my chest. Everything around me seemed to slow down as the realization settled in my mind. _I am going to die, here and now…_

The man's hand prepared to deal the final blow into my chest. I closed my eyes and many images flew through my mind.

Eventually only one of them stayed. All of my thoughts and memories went aside and the only thing I suddenly cared about was him: the man who saved me when I was on the verge of my life. He stayed with me all these years… cared for me and didn't leave me alone… the man who risked his life for me countless times just to see me smile.

I almost smiled.

I was so glad that I was able to tell him how much I love him. I was happy I could give myself to him today…

I awaited my death with only L on my mind.

And then I felt a sudden pain in my chest…


	9. 9

9.: L

I was crawling through the narrow ventilation tunnel as quietly and as quickly as possible. Tina hadn't even used the device I gave her… Why would she want to act alone suddenly?

_Damn, I have to stop thinking about it… I need to find her. That will solve these stupid questions._

"Turn right." Matt's calm voice pulled me out of my mental torture. I turned right, careful not to make too much noise and continued in that direction.

"Am I near?" I whispered.

"Stop asking already, I'll tell you when you're near, ok?"

I frowned and continued crawling… my beloved patience.

It took a long while when I finally got to the place I needed. I was above a small corridor with two doors and a window at its end. There were two men guarding one of the doors.

"Is this lid electric as well?" I whispered almost unhearably.

Matt didn't respond as always. I awaited he would tell me another "good news" I don't want to hear.

After a while the lid suddenly opened on its own.

"10 seconds."

_Thank you, Matt, I would really apreciate some warning next time._

I jumped down quickly, the opening closing behind me. The two guards noticed me right away. However I had the advantage of surprise… Even though I myself was surprised.

Luckily for me, they were standing close to each other. I knocked them out with two side kicks. Some time ago I had learned some capoeira basics but I had never thought I would use it. However, since I had the moment of surprise, it was the best way to deal with them.

"Matt, I cleared the corridor, how will I get through the door?"

"Can't you use the screwdriver?"

"There are four locks I've never seen before. I don't suppose I have so much time."

"Wait a second…"

Yes, as if I had enough patience for distribution. To distract myself, I took the guards' guns and pulled out all bullets. It surely wouldn't be very nice if they got inside with me and started shooting.

I frowned. There was just this stupid door parting me from Tina and I couldn't even make sure she was alright. I leaned my ear to the door hoping to overhear at least something.

I closed my eyes and focused. I heard a man's voice talking.

"…dear Nicollet… …why I brought… …here."

_He used her real name…. how's that possible? Who is he?_

"You intend to kill me, of course..." Tina's words struck me and I winced. _The only person who knew her name and who would want to kill her just like that is… Shit!_

I frantically looked around, looking for any possible entrance to that room. She was in grieve danger. I had to save her.

To go through the door wasn't an option. It would take me forever to figure out those locks… Somewhere else… somehow… The ventilation system wasn't going into that room… probably because there are many windows… windows…

Yes, I found the answer. I ran to the only window in the corridor and opened it harshly. I leaned out.

Good, there was a narrow ledge. I crawled out carefully and step by step moved to my right. My eyes were focused solely on the window before me. Twenty-three floors beneath me were driving cars and people chatting seemingly cheerfully. The autumn breeze was sending shivers down my spine and the clouds above me threatened to rain soon. I successfully ignored all of that and kept my concentration on the window.

The ledge was narrowing as I kept getting closer. I gritted my teeth in an attempt to keep holding on. It's not as easy as it seems in movies.

_Just few more steps_. I kept moving slowly towards the window.

Every step seemed to last forever.

_Tina is in danger,_ I couldn't bear that thought. I was cursing myself for not thinking about this man's presence. I should have known he moved to Japan. That way I wouldn't let Tina do this. I knew of her fear towards him… and I knew he tried to kill her six years ago…

_I was walking through a long dark corridor. It was underground and there was no light, so it was very hard to orient myself well. I needed to move faster but there was no way for me to do so. I gritted my teeth and tried to calm down. Oh, my beloved patience, how I miss you…_

_I was finally about to catch a British mafia, which lived here in Italy. I was chasing them for a whole year. Ten months ago I had found them, but they'd moved without leaving a trace and my investigation had started from a zero again. Today I could at long last get them for real. I'd reduced the number of investigators so this time they wouldn't realize someone is trying to find them. But of course that meant I was the one doing much more work… and eventually ended up working alone._

_It took me almost an hour to reach the hidden doors to their hideout. It was locked of course. I took out a screwdriver and played with the lock for a while. It wasn't easy but after long minutes I managed to silently open the door._

_I walked into a big room full of computers and other technical mechanism. My eyes widened in shock and surprise. There were eight motionless bodies lying in a huge pool of blood. I recognized all of them as the key members of the mafia I was chasing._

_In the middle of this bloody scene stood a little eleven-year-old girl with a gun in her hands. She seemed to be frozen with her eyes widened in shock, her fingers clutching clumsily on the gun. She kept staring at the wall, her gaze completely blank. I slowly approached her._

_I knew she was the one who killed all those people. The way she held the gun and the fact she stood in the middle of the scene revealed it all. She might have been able to kill me as well, but I didn't care. She was so shocked it wasn't probable anyway._

_She was completely stiff, only her trembling hands gave away she's still alive. I squatted before her to look into her eyes… her terrified green eyes._

_She slowly started to tremble, her gaze fixed on the one place before her, noone else could see. I gently took her small shaking hands in mine. At first she tightened her grip on the gun and slowly went stiff again. Tears started welling up in her eyes._

_I didn't have the slightest idea of who she was or why she did what she did. I didn't even know her name… but there was something in here eyes… probably the fear, or the defenselessness, which made me want to take care of her… to comfort her… to help her._

_She suddenly loosened her grip on the gun, the tears making their way down her face and she threw herself around my neck. She didn't scream, just kept clutching at my shoulders and I felt the warm tears streaming on my back._

_I was surprised by her sudden action. It took me a while to embrace her firmly and give her the support she needed so much. I didn't know what to do or how to help her, so I kept patting her back and repeated meaningless soothing words that probably couldn't reach her. She was trembling with heavy sobs, still cluthing at me as if I was her last hope… and who know, maybe I was._

_So many questions were rising in my mind. She may have knonw the answers, but I knew she couldn't give me one… at least not at the moment._

_I took her up in my arms, determined to take her with me, when suddenly I heard someone from behind the normal doors that led to this room._

"_Good work, Nicollet…" a white-haired man opened the door.  
"Don't you think it's time you follow your beloved parents and siblings, now?" He froze in surprise when he saw me._

_I frowned as I recognized him. He was the secret leader of the whole mafia, but he used her sister and her family as the offical key members who did everything he told them to. My investigation probably wasn't as secret as I hoped it to be. He'd realized someone had found their hideout and wanted to destroy the mafia, before the police could do so. And with 60 per cent probability used this girl to do the dirty work for him. How? That was the information I was willing to find out. But at the moment I wanted to take care of the girl. The man carried a simple knife and a package of bullets. He knew she would be in shock, therefore an easy prey. He had planned it very well. He brought the whole family in this room and send this girl to kill them. She had eight bullets… if she missed someone, the person would kill her instead and the white-haired man could then easily take car of the last man standing with the knife._

_With those answers, even more questions rose in my mind._

_I quickly took the gun from the ground. There were no bullets, so I threw it into the man's head. Luckily for me, he didn't await my 'attack' and got hit in his forehead. I didn't wait to see what effect it had. I hastily ran out of the room and closed the door behind me, finding myself in the pitch-black darkness of the secret corridor._

_I kept running, my mind racing as well. The little girl's sobs were quieting down steadily as her strength was leaving her as well._

_Was it my curiousity or something else that made me hold her so tightly?_

_I brought her to an apartment I rented for these few days of my stay in Italy. She was unconscious, probably because of the shock and exhaustion. I took care of her from then on. When she woke up I forced her to eat, even though she didn't want to. She was in complete denial of living. First of all she was mute for some reason. Physically she was completely alright, but she didn't speak at all. She didn't answer my questions at all at first, but then she started to scribble the answers in strange ciphers. That eventually helped me to destroy the rest of the mafia. They were using the same ciphers to communicate. What worried me greatly was the fact I didn't find the white-haired man. He disappeared and I had no idea where he could be. A little depressing…_

_Of course I didn't stop searching for him, but it wasn't my priority since the mafia had been already destroyed._

_I talked to the little girl everyday. I tried calling her 'Nicollet', but she kept shaking her head everytime I did so. The only thing she wrote without ciphers was: 'Call me Rhoditina'_

_I kept asking her about everything that came to my mind. She refused to answer anything about her past, but was almost happy to answer anything about her opinions and abilities. She cried almost everyday and always tried to conceal it._

_After a few days she started asking me as well. I didn't have to force her to eat and she even smiled a few times. Even though she still didn't speak, I was glad._

_She was alive…_

_I took her with me to England and brought her to Watari. He welcomed her with opened arms, as every child he took care of. I said good bye to her and Watari and was about to leave, when she hugged me from behind. Her small hands clutched at my clothes. I was very surprised. I looked down at her. She gave me a happy smile and shyly buried her face into my back. As if she wanted to say goodbye…_

_I kept returning to her after every finished case, which was almost every month or so. She still didn't speak and only sometimes she used the notes to communicate with Watari. However, when I came, she kept writing something on the notes to ask me, or to tell me… At times she almost seemed completely normal if we overlook the fact she was mute._

_She often asked me about some cases. She even tried to figure them out before me telling her the outcome. She was very intelligent. Watari noticed that first and started giving her special assignments. She managed to complete all of them. He tested her physical abilities. She was talented, but what was most important: skilled._

_After a year I came to see them again. Watari was about to assign her her first outdoor mission with me. She seemed very nervous and reluctant to accept._

"_You know, Watari, maybe it's not a good idea to give her such a dangerous mission. She doesn't seem prepared." I said while looking into her eyes. She seemed very surprised and looked to the ground depressed. Watari was also surprised.  
"Ryuzaki, what do you….?"_

"_She's afraid, that's it."_

_That sentence seemed to have ringed the bell. She looked at me fiercely, her look suddenly determined. "I am NOT afraid. I'll prove it to you if you want!"_

_I smiled. "Yes, I would love to see that."_

The memory flew through my mind as I kept getting closer to the window. I almost smiled over the memory when she first spoke to me… so determined and stubborn. That's how she is. Ambitious, obstinate, but also modest when it came down to it.

I shook my head. _Why am I thinking about that now? I need to concentrate…_

My foot slipped and I slowly lost balance. _Damn!_ I tried to regain it, but it was no use. I was slowly but surely losing my grip. There were still a few steps between me and the window. It was now or never. No more certainty. I gritted my teeth and jumped. The world seemed to slow down even more as I found myself in the air, desperately reaching for the ledge. I held my breath. I frowned at the though of 24 floors beneath me. I tried to keep myself focus on the window ledge. I was getting closer, but falling steadily as well. _Will I make it?_

I started to doubt it.

I stretched my right hand in an attempt to reach the ledge… and failed.

_No!_

I threw my left hand in a desperate last try to get hold of it.

"Gah!"

I had to grit my teeth again as my fingers painfully held onto the edge, carrying my whole weight. I clambered up desperately, trying not to fall.

_Good, I've made it… in a way._ I looked through the window and frowned at the scene. The man was pinning her to the wall, holding a knife near her throat. I saw just his back, but I could see into Tina's face clearly. Her eyes were widened in fear. Then suddenly her gaze went blank and she closed her eyes surrenderingly.

_No! This can't be!_

The man stretched his hand with the knife, prepared to place the final blow into her chest. All I felt at that moment was pure rage. My vision almost went red. He was threatening her life and I couldn't allow him to do so. She wasn't his property to play with! I hadn't let him take her life six years ago and I hadn't do it just for him to do so later. My mind was full of one only thought: to stop that man from touching her… harming her… killing her.

I still don't know how I jumped through the window, the shards of glass probably piercing my clothes and flesh at many places. I ran to the man, grabbed his arm and wrist and threw him to the other side of the room.

Tina gasped and slided to the ground, her eyes still firmly closed.

I walked hastily to the man again. He seemed very surprised. He frowned as I approached him and attacked me with the knife. That was rather surprising for me for a change and I didn't have time to dodge properly so he scratched my arm painfully.

At the moment my rage didn't let me to mind pain at all. I grabbed his wrist and kicked him in the head. I took the blade of his knife while he fell backwards on his table. I felt the warm blood streaming down my fingers as I grasped the blade firmly.

The man quickly recovered from the surprise of my entrance, hastily opened one drawer and took out a gun.

My eyes widened as he aimed it on Tina again. He grinned slyly.

"I have no idea how you found me after six years, but I know for certain it was your biggest mistake. You'll both die, here and now!"

Everything went slower again. I didn't even care about his words, I just instinctively stood between him and Tina and threw the knife at him. Then I felt a sharp pain in my chest, knocking the breath out of me.

I fell to the ground. I saw nothing. I heard nothing… All I felt was the abominable pain in my chest. I felt no blood streming up my throat, which meant that the bullet hit the rib and didn't go further. However I still strugled to at least take a breath.

"Ryuzaki!" I heard as if from a very far distance as my vision went black and I lost consciousness…


	10. 10

10.

_I walked into the apartement casually and looked around. Watari told me she moved in here to live on her own in Tokyo. She became very independent and he didn't want to restrict her. It'd been some time since I last saw her. Well, when I thought about it, it'd been almost a year. Maybe she had forgotten about me?_

_I almost smiled at the thought. She surely had changed. The missions Watari was giving her started to resemble the ones I used to do in her age. Who knows, maybe she would be the one to succeed me…_

_I shook my head._

_No, I didn't come here for this kind of thoughts. I came here to see the little girl I'd watched growing up. Even if she forgets about me, I know I never will…_

_My chain of thoughts was interrupted by a sixteen-year-old girl walking out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. I managed not to widen my eyes in surprise at her mature beauty. Her long dark blue hair lazily lied on her shoulders and her green deep eyes stared blankly as she walked tiredly to the couch._

_She stopped abruptly as she saw me, the cup of coffee falling to the ground._

_Well… I did wanted to surprise her, but I guess I could have at least knocked on the door._

_I smiled both amusedly at her surprise and warmly at seeing her after such a long time._

"_Hey, Aru." I used the nickname she made up herself: the japanesse pronunciation of the initial letter of her name._

_She lifted her hand to her mouth, her eyes still widened in disbelief._

"…_Eru…" she whispered almost inaudibly, using the nickname she made up for me at the same time she made up hers. My smile widened a bit. She remembered me well._

"_I'm sorry. I didn't want to invade your flat so rudely, I just wanted to see you… since it's been such a long time..."_

_Yes, my mind had to fail me at that particular moment and I didn't have any idea what to say to her. She didn't respond, which made me feel all the more uneasy. Even so, I didn't want to evade her surprised gaze. She didn't move at all, which made the empression she froze. And I… I just patiently waited for her to respond… to tell me anything… even if she would chase me out of her flat, I was already glad, that I could see her at least for the moment. That I could make sure she was alright._

_Then she moved abruptly, closing the distance between us in a few steps and before I realized what she wanted to do, she slapped my cheek hard._

_Her wrist sure have gotten stronger. The impact made my head turn to one side and my eyes widen in amazement. It took me a while to finally look back at her and my eyes widened even more. She was biting her lower lip fighting the tears that started welling up in her eyes._

"_Stupid…" she mumbled. "You think I didn't want to see you as well?"_

_She sobbed and looked at out feet sullenly.  
"You've never left for such a long time… Even Watari didn't know where you've been the whole time… I was afraid… that something might have happened to you…"_

_I supressed a smile. It wasn't very nice of me to leave and not contact neither her nor Watari. I guess I'm not very responsible when it comes down to this kind of stuff._

_I put my hands on her shoulders to calm her down a bit._

"_I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you worry. I just worked on a case and didn't have the opportunities to contact you…"_

_She shoved me away harshly and crossed her arms sullenly. She didn't have to say anything for me to understand. I came to her again and hugged her tightly despite her struggle._

"_I'm sorry. I won't do it again."_

_She stopped struggling. I knew she didn't want to hear excuses, but reasurance that I won't let her experience the same thing again. She returned my hug and whispered into my chest. "I missed you, you know?"_

_I patted her back calmingly. "I missed you, too."_

…

_I walked casually into the same apartement. I kept returning here every week or so. It was a relaxing place for me… almost like home._

_Tina was lying on the couch lazily._

"_Hey, Tina, how is it going?"_

_She sat up abruptly and glared at me. I stopped halfway from the couch and looked at her a bit confused. "Is something the matter?"_

"_You gave me this mission just to find out Matt is my brother, didn't you?"_

_I smiled and walked to the couch to sit next to her._

"_You're bright as always."_

_She punched my shoulder. "There are other ways you could have told me that!" She kept glaring at me sullenly._

_I lifted one eyebrow. "But doesn't it feel better to find it out by yourself?"_

_She frowned and turned her gaze in fornt of herself, still with a sullen face._

So she finally found out she has a family…_ I thought happily._

"_Doesn't it feel better? That you're not alone…"_

_She bit her lip nervously, the sullen face completely gone. "Well… of course."_

"_Something is bothering you." I stated calmly._

_She looked at me a bit surprised and probably wanted to retort something, but then she closed her mouth and evaded my gaze. "It's just… you know I can't really trust anybody from that time…"_

_I frowned a bit at the memory. "But you know you can trust me."_

_She bit her lip again. I moved closer to her and put my arm around her shoulders. She stiffened for a while, but then relaxed and layed her head on my shoulder. I caressed her cheek. She seemed so confused… All I could do was to be there for her… and hope that would be enough._

"_You know you can tell me anything." I said silently._

_She suddenly grabbed my shirt and nuzzled her face into my chest… just as a little girl seeking support._

_I embraced her tightly, letting her know I'm with her in the simple touch. I remembered the first time I hugged her like this… and I wondered whether she was thinking about the same experience._

"_I was… afraid…" she mumbled into my chest quietly._

"_Hm…?" I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I wanted her to continue without any interruptive questions._

"_I was always afraid to talk about it… my past… it was something I was afraid people would use against me, so I kept it inside me…"_

_I pulled her slightly away, took her chin and lifted her head to look into my eyes. Her green uncertain eyes.  
"Are you still afraid?"_

_She bit her lip and nodded slightly. She lowered her gaze and stared at her hands, which kept cluthing at my shirt. "I am… but I realized that… if I'm not able to speak about those memories to you… then to whom?"_

_I caressed her hair and made her lift her gaze again._

"_You're right about that. After a painful experience, it's difficult to trust people again… But if you're able to trust just one, suddenly the whole world seems brighter."_

_Her eyes lit up a bit and an uncertain smile appeared on her face. I gave her a reasuring smile and she started to speak._

_She told me almost everything from the time before I met her. She'd lived in London since she remembered. Together with her parents, uncle and six siblings they were a part of the British mafia. They'd made her solve all sorts of complicated missions. Her family had often helped her… She even said she'd been happy even though she had started to slowly realized that what they'd been doing wasn't very good. But then… they'd found out someone'd been chasing them for a while. Her uncle took the iniciative and moved the whole family to Italy. From then on, it'd been tough for the whole mafia. Her uncle'd commanded them all the time, telling everyone what to do. Her worst memory was about the lab he secretly constructed…_

"…_when I failed a mission or simply made a mistake he took me back there…" she even started to tremble at this particular memory.  
"…I didn't know what it was… he always tied me on a strange table and attached a lot of strange wires on me. He then said with his atrocious grin that I was a bad girl… that I needed punishment…" Tears started to stream down her cheeks. I kept holding her tightly and caressing her back reassuringly._

"…_and then all I remember is the black light blinding me… and an unendurable pain striking my whole body…" she started to sob into my chest, unable to continue speaking._

_I held her shivering form firmly. I'd had no idea how much pain she had to endure just because I hadn't succeed in catching the mafia the first time. However, I realized it was too late to think about things I can't change. All I could do was to be there for here… to protect her from this harmful experiences from then on…_

"… _I usually lost consciousness and woke up in my bed… When I tried to speak of those things to someone from family, my uncle stopped me and punished me again… I sometimes woke up with bruises I didn't remember at all…_

_I felt hopeless… I just wished for everything to end…"_

_Her sobs stopped her speech again. She kept grasping my shirt and burying her head into my chest._

"…_At the night you found me, my uncle had punished me again… but this time it was worse than ever before. He was saying something about my parents and siblings having to go away. I didn't understand… and then I woke up standing in that room… the whole family dead… and my hands grasping at a gun…"_

_She threw her hands around my neck again and buried her face into my neck… just as at that night… I kept patting her back and repeating those meaningless words of comfort._

"_It's alright… I'm here, you're not alone… I won't let it happen again…"_

_It took a while, but she eventually calmed down, her sobs turning into a happy silent laughter of joy._

"_L, I'm now so happy. It's as if a huge stone disappeared from my chest."_

_She pulled away to look into my eyes. "Thank you for being here for me."_

…

_I walked into the apartement casually. I kept returning here almost everyday. Of course Mello and Matt spent a lot of their time in here, too. But tonight Tina was here alone, sitting on the couch and staring at the turned off TV. I sat next to her and also stared at the TV. Hm? Who knows what she was thinking about._

"_Hey, Tina. How is it going?"_

_She looked at me, her face unusually expressionless. "Fine, thanks." her voice was also strangely neutral._

_I looked at her as well. "Is something bothering you?"_

_She frowned instantly. "No… but something is bothering you!"_

_My eyes widened. "Me?"_

_She stood up and walked in front of me. "You think I am that stupid? I noticed something's been off with you lately. And don't try to fool me, I know you too well!"_

_I frowned, evading her gaze._

Shit, she really does know me too well…

_I kept my calm as always. "Why do you think so?"_

_That was it. She slapped me hard again._

"_I told you not to fool me!"_

_I sighed surrenderingly. "How did you find out?"_

_She snickered humourlessly. "Come on! I've seen how you tried to stay calm everytime you looked at me! You always act as if you're completely alright, but I can see something's on your mind, so stop fooling around and tell me finally! I thought you trusted me!"_

_Damn, she really knew me well… I stood up determined and looked at the girl before me. She was the one who taught me real courage… and it was time to show her, I was a good student._

"_So you really want to know what's on my mind lately?"_

_She crossed her arms, her look also determined. "Yes, I do."_

"_Even though there might be a reason I haven't told you so far?"_

"_Even though."_

_I put my hand on her shoulder. She didn't move at all, her stubborn stare fixed solely on my eyes. She probably wanted to make sure I'm honest with her._

_I looked into her eyes. "Rhoditina, I love you."_

_She blinked and her eyes widened in surprise. "What?"_

…

end of all flashbacks… and we're back on the start ^^

All these memories flew through my head as I was lying on the bed motionlessly. The first time I met her… the time she started to trust me completely five years later… when I confessed to her… when she gave herself to me…

I didn't regret anything… and I hoped my life had some meaning to her as well.

I almost laughed at myself… so pitiful. I was really dying, huh?

Somebody entered the room.

It took a lot of my energy to turn my head to the doors. _Tina_… I thought sadly as I saw her eyes… her green eyes full of sadness and fear.

"L!" She ran towards the bed I was lying on and kneeled beside it, looking worriedly into my eyes. I smiled reassuringly.

"Tina…" my voice was so sore.

Few tears streamed down her face. I didn't want her to cry… at least not for me.

I lifted my hand to her cheek and tried to wipe the tears. She nuzzled into my palm and held my hand with hers. Her hands were so warm…

She closed her eyes as more tears streamed down. I tried to wipe them, but they just kept streaming down her cheeks.

"Why…?" her voice was now as weak as mine. "Why did you do that?"

I smiled both amusedly and sadly. "You know why I did that."

She looked at me again, her gaze stained with undescribable pain.

"The shot was aimed at me… You shouldn't have…"

I put my finger on her lips to hush her gently. "I had to… I can't imagine my life without you."

She frowned a bit. "That's too selfish… How am I supposed to live without you?"

I caressed her cheek again. "You know I did it for you… It wouldn't have been a very nice gesture if it had been in vain… Please, promise me you'll live on strongly."

"_Promise me you'll be strong…"_

"How am I supposed to do that?!" she started sobbing heavily, but kept her strong gaze on my eyes. I smiled. "There's still so many things ahead of you… I guess I gave you what I could… and now it's time for you to slowly move on without me."

"I-I can't! You're the one who brought me back to life! How am I supposed to move on?"

I shook my head. "No… I am just someone who helped you a bit, but it's you who stood up on your own legs. You're strong Rhoditina… Use that strength to keep on moving forward…"

She hurled herself around my neck and cried very agonizingly. Even though there was no strength left in me, I managed to keep patting her back reassuringly.

I didn't want to cause her pain… and if she wasn't able to move forward, all I've done would lose its meaning.

I kissed her hair and whispered weakly. "Please, promise me you'll keep moving on strongly… as you always did."

She pulled away to look at me. She was fighting the tears not very successfully. I smiled warmly, because I knew… she would stay strong, just as always… She was the one who taught me strength.

She slowly nodded. "Yes… yes I'll be strong."

I sighed relieved. "Thanks…"

The strength started to leave me rapidly. My vision was slowly getting blurry. My breathing got shallow… I knew I wouldn't last for long. This was it… my last breath…

Tina leaned towards me and kissed me softly, her warm soft lips reassuring me in my last moments. The salty taste of her tears filled my mind and reminded me of everything Tina did for me… She gave me so much…

"I love you…"

My last words left my lips…

"I love you, too…"

Everything went dark and I felt pleasant warmth surrounding me…


	11. 11

11.

Epilogue:

The setting sun was shining brithly, colouring everything in warm shades of orange. Birds played in the sky, chirping happily. The wind kept lazily blowing around, sometimes playfully tossing someone's hair into his or her face. The bells were tolling loudly and near a singly grave were standing two figures. One of them tall, the second very small as a five-years-old child.

The two women stood there in complete silence for countless moments. The older one with dark blue hair stood a few steps away, staring at the grave expressionlessly. The little girl kept arranging the two bonquets they brought in always a new manner. After a while she found something craved into the stone. She started to read it silently:

_Rest in peace my love_

_Even though I cannot see you_

_Hear you or feel your presence, my_

_Tears stopped flowing_

_As I see the_

_Flittering ligt of my last hope, which_

_Adds light to the_

_Ever so deep darkness which_

_Reaches into my heart_

_And calms me down. I_

_Utter my last goodbye to you_

_Our last hope still present inside me. I know_

_You've never left me..._

Under the short poem stood a single decorated letter: R

(try to solve that cipher :)

ecorated letter: em stood a single aved into the stone. She started to read it silently:

.ents. been in vain.


	12. writer's boring note

Warning: this is not a part of the story, just a boring writer's note.

First of all, I want to thank to everyone who had the patience and was bored enough to read through my story. It took me quite some time to update, even though the whole story was done by January. Let me tell you a tiny little bit about this fanfiction.

It was inspired by (and written for) my best friend. It is biased on a roleplay the two of us have been doing quite often. She made up the whole Tina's character and appearances (she even drew a nice picture of her). So I wrote her this little fanfic to show her how I perceive Tina, and to let her into the mind of my L (he's totally ooc, isn't he?). And why was the ending so terribly dramatically sad? I guess it's because I like drama, and it seemed fitting to make my poor L die for something important to him, even though it broke Tina's poor heart. But she's not alone at least. She has a beautiful super intelligent daughter, who can read fluently at the age of five or less! (We all love to exaggerate)

Anyway, I really appreciate you've read the whole story, and I would really appreciate a few reviews (you don't really have to write how awesome I am, it would be nice if you gave me a few tips e.g. you suck, stop writing forever. Or just drop some random stuff you liked about the plot or so…)

And there might be more chapters (with even more ooc-ness), that I wrote out of boredom, but it wouldn't be so dramatic, and it would be much shorter, and there's a slim possibility it will have something to do with this story.

Some trivia:

The whole fic was supposed to have two or three pages. Ironically enough it turned out to be so long (30 pages of hard work, fellows).

For those of you lazy enough to ignore the cipher I left in the last chapter, try noticing the first letters of each verse of the poem Tina wrote on his grave (and try putting them together).

The car chase in the second chapter was inspired by a movie with Angelina Jolie: Wanted.

Have you realized most of the story is just a flashback of dying L?


End file.
